focus verb: to concentrate attention or effort
These days it seems I’m having a really hard time drumming up enough of the former to be able to do the latter. I came off the weight loss blocks at a dead run, eating nothing I wasn’t supposed to, exercising at least five times a week, and dropping pounds like a dog sheds hair in the spring.
Now, almost four months later, I find my willpower quotient is hibernating deep in the basement somewhere, while my loathing for my elliptical—once my best good friend—has launched straight through the roof. Am I just being lazy, or have I maybe burned myself out? Perhaps I started out at sprinter speed, when I really should have been pacing myself for a marathon. The big question is: How do I get back on track so I can finish the race?
It’s not that my progress has ground to a complete halt. In the past four weeks I’ve lost about four pounds and a total of 3 ¼ inches from my bust, waist, hips, and thighs. Better than gaining pounds or inches, right? Way better! I knew before I even started this so-called diet that weight loss is more rapid in the beginning weeks and slows down as you lose. I just didn’t think it would be this sucky when it happened, ya know?
Knowing my plight is not a solitary one, I let my fingers walk me back to Google, where I found a short, concise article that nicely summed up exactly what I’m going through right now. Written by Carol Sorgen for WebMD Weight Loss Clinic, it give tips on how to stay psyched for the long term; it talks about motivation and the “dreaded plateau”; it tells you how to get creative so you can avoid burnout. I bookmarked this one, so I can refer back to it whenever I need a little pick-me-up. Click here to read the article.
If this big ol’ funk ball of a cloud that is hanging over my head right now has a silver lining, it would be that my diet doldrums have given me a possible glimpse at what maintenance may be like once I reach my goal. And that is the really important/scary part of any diet, isn’t it—being able to maintain your new lower weight once you’ve shed all the excess. Because keeping the weight off isn’t a short-term plan, it’s a lifestyle alteration. And like an old pair of jeans that don’t fit, it’ll hang in the back of the closet and never see daylight again.
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Do you have to tell it all?
Where do you get the glaring right
To make my clothes look just too tight?
I think I'm fine but I can see
you won't cooperate with me;
The way you let the shadows play
You'd think my hair was getting gray
What's that, you say? A double chin?
No, that's the way the light comes in;
If you persist in peering so
You'll confiscate my facial glow,
And then if you're not hanging straight
You'll tell me next I'm gaining weight;
I'm really quite upset with you
For giving this distorted view;
I hate you being smug and wise -
O, look what's happened to my thighs!
I warn you now, O mirrored wall,
Since we're not on speaking terms at all,
If I look like this in my new jeans
You'll find yourself in smithereens!
Author Unknown
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